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- The American Civil Liberties Union has obtained documents revealing that th...
Frank would likely be active and vocal in a short Senate stint
Written by Alexandra Jaffe | The Hill
If former Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) gets his way, he’ll be serving in the Senate just as the upper chamber takes up legislation concerning the budget, the debt ceiling and sequestration.
They are all fights Frank would relish.
Barack Obama’s nomination of John Kerry as secretary of state gives the Senate a critical opportunity to probe the administration’s foreign policy priorities—and many of those policies demand inquiry. The Republicans—who, like Senator John McCain, sniped disgracefully at UN Ambassador Susan Rice—have expressed few coherent reservations about our current course,
There is a great deal of angst and worry among progressives about what is going to happen in two months when the Republicans once again will be trying to hostage the entire economy so that they can cut Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, education and everything else in the federal budget that helps low and middle income folks.
Barbara Lee Issues Statement on December Jobs Numbers
Written by Congresswoman Barbara Lee | Press Release
Washington, D.C. – Today, Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA) issued the following response to the figures released by the U.S. Department of Labor showing 155,000 jobs were added in December, marking the 34th consecutive month of private sector job growth. Overall unemployment rate was unchanged at 7.8 percent, after the November unemployment rate adjustment from 7.7 to 7.8 percent.
House's Sandy Aid Bill Is Only the First Chapter
Written by Kerry Young | Roll Call
Remaining relief funds could come in 2 separate measures
Northeast lawmakers whose states were damaged by Superstorm Sandy are finally seeing the House action they have been demanding on disaster relief funding.
There is a lot of finger-pointing in Washington about who is responsible for the mess made of the so-called fiscal-cliff negotiations, but there is no doubt about who failed thousands of residents and businesses devastated by Hurricane Sandy and still waiting for help: Speaker John Boehner.
Republicans won more in the fiscal-cliff deal than they had any right to expect. Permanent tax cuts for the middle class and millions of wealthy families, a permanent break on the estate tax and dividends, a five-year limit on tax credits for low-income families, and only a single year of extended unemployment insurance. Yet 64 percent of House Republicans voted against it Tuesday night.
Lessons from the longshoremen
Written by Harold Meyerson | The Washington Post
The cliff that America sidestepped with time to spare in 2012 was the one on the nation’s docks. On Friday, harbor operators and shippers reached an agreement with the union representing nearly 15,000 longshoremen on the East and Gulf coasts. The key point holding up the signing of a new contract was whether dockworkers would continue to receive royalties on the containers they hoisted on and off ships.
Lines of Resistance on Fiscal Deal
Written by Jonathan Weisman | The New York Times
WASHINGTON — Just a few years ago, the tax deal pushed through Congress on Tuesday would have been a Republican fiscal fantasy, a sweeping bill that locks in virtually all of the Bush-era tax cuts, exempts almost all estates from taxation, and enshrines the former president’s credo that dividends and capital gains should be taxed equally and gently.
On the Left, Seeing Obama Giving Away Too Much, Again
Written by Peter Baker | The New York Times
WASHINGTON — For President Obama, the fiscal deal passed by Congress on Tuesday finally ends four years of debate with Republicans about raising tax rates on the wealthy. But it seemed to reopen a debate within his party about the nature of his leadership and his skills as a negotiator.
Billions in Aid for Hurricane Victims Appears in Jeopardy
Written by Raymond Hernandez | The New York Times
A bill to provide tens of billions of dollars in federal aid to states pummeled by Hurricane Sandy was in danger of dying Tuesday night as the House seemed headed for adjournment without taking up the legislation. The developments in the House dealt a major blow to leaders from the storm-battered region, who had been pushing top Republicans in the chamber to adopt a $60.4 billion aid package that the Senate passed last week.
House approves 'fiscal cliff' deal, bill headed to Obama's desk
Written by Russell Berman and Pete Kasperowicz | The Hill
The House late Tuesday night voted to approve a sweeping tax deal to prevent the most significant effects of the "fiscal cliff," overcoming Republican resistance to allow tax rates to rise on the wealthiest earners.
The 257-167 vote culminated a day of high drama in the Capitol, as Republican leaders considered and then quickly abandoned a plan to attach steep spending cuts to a measure passed overwhelmingly by the Senate early Tuesday morning.
Fiscal cliff deal won't end war between Democrats, Republicans
Written by Robert B Reich | Chicago Tribune
"It's not all I would have liked," said Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, speaking of the deal on the fiscal cliff, "so on to the debt ceiling."
For Republicans, the battle over the fiscal cliff is only a prelude to the coming battle over raising the debt ceiling -- a battle that will likely continue through early March, when the Treasury runs out of tricks to avoid a default on the nation's debt.
Make 2013 a year of renewal, not ruin
Written by Rev Jessie Jackson | Chicago Sun Times
The new year begins with a bad hangover from 2012’s inane debate over the “fiscal cliff.” The furious debate focused only on how much damage would be done to the economy and who would pay the price, how much and what would be cut, who would pay higher taxes and who would suffer the most.
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